Complaints aired at health care forum

Tuesday

Feb 18, 2014 at 5:00 PM

By John MulcahyDaily Telegram Staff Writer

Eight panel members described difficulties they have had related to the new health care law at a forum Monday in Adrian.

About 50 people attended the forum about the Affordable Care Act hosted by Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Tipton, at the city chambers building in Adrian. There were no members of the panel who described positive experiences with the act.

Before the panelists spoke, Walberg gave an introduction in which he said parts of the Affordable Care Act had made coverage better for some people and parts made it worse for some people.

"The key is what do we really need to do for health care, and more specifically for paying for health care in this country," Walberg said.

Walberg was not in Congress when the Affordable Care Act was passed, but he has opposed it and has voted repeatedly to repeal it completely or change key portions of the act.

"I contend that to fix the Affordable Care Act, the president's health care reform plan, ultimately we would need basically to repeal it and replace it," Walberg said.

Eight bills, most of which he cosponsored, have been passed by the Congress and signed by the president repealing or fixing portions of the Affordable Care Act, Walberg said.

The panelists were:— Nick Liscomb, a small-business owner in Adrian, who said his family paid $750 a month previously for insurance, and a comparable plan under the Affordable Care Act was quoted at $1,250 to $1,700. He also said his expected income in the coming year is on the border of what would qualify for a subsidy, and he doesn't want to underestimate his income and have to pay back a subsidy.

— Kevin Marti, CEO of Gleaner Life Insurance Society in Adrian, who said the company had to reduce the benefits in what had been a "Cadillac" plan for its employees or face increased taxes as an organization.

— Rich Donner, vice president and client executive in the benefits division of Kapnick Insurance Group, who said small businesses now have to deal with a rating system based on the age and family status of individual employees, causing extra administrative work.

— Wynn Esterline, owner of Home Instead Senior Care in Adrian, who said he had to reduce the work hours of some of his part-time employees — who can and sometimes do work full time — to less than 30 hours a week to avoid increased penalties.

— Louis Posa, a small-business owner in Adrian, who said his family had to go from a high-deductible family plan that offered two office visits per individual per year and dental care to a plan that meets the Affordable Care Act requirements and costs $1,147 a month, "for in essence the same basic plan that I had before."

— Cindy Liley, owner of Reflection Medical, a medical equipment supplier in Temperance, who said a new competitive bid program in Medicare is causing some Medicare patients to get substandard, old or used equipment.

— Alex Miller of Clinton, who said the insurance he gets through his employer increased in price 240 percent under the Affordable Care Act.

— Tracey Barron of Adrian, who said that since her previous insurance plan was canceled because of the Affordable Care Act, she has been unable to get coverage for her mentally ill 14-year-old son.

Interviewed after the forum, Barron said she previously paid $386 a month for herself and her son for a plan that did "not cover much of anything." She now has a subsidized plan under the Affordable Care Act for herself for which she pays $116 a month, she said. However, Barron said she has been bounced back and forth between the Affordable Care Act marketplace and the state of Michigan about whether her son should get Medicaid or be able to get insurance through the marketplace.

Her son still does not have insurance, and his case is being appealed, she said.

Asked after the meeting why no one who had a positive experience with the Affordable Care Act was on the panel, Walberg said he mostly hears from people who have had problems and said those may be the people who are more likely to contact him.

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